Plenary – Applying TQM to Education

Plenary Applying TQM to Education
Applying TQM to Education
TQM, as we have seen, is a philosophy for continuously improving services and products
offered to customers. It is easy to think of TQM in an industrially-based environment, but
how well does it apply to a service-based environment, particularly one focused upon
education, such as the services that are being provided by your university. In this
environment the primary customers are you, as students. Is it possible to use TQM as a way
of focuses upon the continual improvement of courses and subject that influence your
learning. Can TQM provide a more challenging environment for you?
The purpose of this activity is to provide a series of guidelines for teachers and lecturers
within higher education. Working in groups, identify at least 10 areas that, as customers, you
feel would help lecturers to serve your needs better. If necessary, use some of the Deming’s
14 points to support or exemplify some of the suggestions that you make.
Deming’s 14 Points Summarised
1. Create constancy of purpose and continual improvement – long term planning must
replace short term reaction.
2. Adopt the new (Japanese) philosophy – by management and workers alike.
3. Do not depend on (quality) inspection – build quality into the product and process.
4. Choose quality suppliers over low cost suppliers – to minimise variation in raw
materials and supply.
5. Improve constantly – to reduce variation in all aspects e.g. planning, production,
and service.
6. Training on the job – for workers and management, to reduce variation in how job is
done.
7. Leadership not supervision – to get people to do a better job, not just meet targets.
8. Eliminate fear – encourage two-way communication, encourage employees to work in
the organzation’s interest.
9. Break down internal barriers – department’s in an organzation are “internal
customers” to each other and must work together.
10. Eliminate slogans (exhortations) – processes make mistakes not people.
Management harassment of workers will create bad relations if no effort made to
improve processes.
Taken from Standards in Action Page 1 of 2
www.bsieducation.org/standardsinaction David Needham
Plenary Applying TQM to Education
11. Eliminate numerical targets – management by objectives (targets) encourages low
quality.
12. Remover barriers to worker satisfaction – including annual appraisals.
13. Encourage self improvement and education for all.
14. Everyone is responsible for continual improvement in quality and productivity –
particularly top management.
TQM is a philosophy and system for continuously improving the services and/or products
offered to customers. Now that the technologies of transportation and communication have
replaced national economic systems with a global economy, nations and businesses that do
not practice TQM can become globally non-competitive rather rapidly. This march towards
non-competitiveness can be avoided if citizens are helped to become TQM practitioners.
Therefore, the potential benefits of TQM in a school, district or college are very clear:
1. TQM can help a school or college provide better service to its primary customers--
students and employers.
2. The continuous improvement focus of TQM is a fundamental way of fulfilling the
accountability requirements common to educational reform.
3. Operating a no-fear TQM system with a focus on continuous growth and
improvement offers more excitement and challenge to students and teachers than a
"good-enough" learning environment can provide. Therefore, the climate for learning
is improved.
What are the essential elements of TQM in education?
In a TQM school or college, improvement teams and individuals are constantly working on
improving service to customers. The concept of a service being "good enough" is considered
inadequate. Thorough understanding of the differences between traditional and TQM schools
is best developed in a dynamic seminar, not in a simple written guide. Therefore, this guide is
intended to supplement such a seminar. Each of the following elements is very important for
fully realizing the potential of TQM in education:
Taken from Standards in Action Page 2 of 2
www.bsieducation.org/standardsinaction David Needham